Scientists examined leaves dating from the Irish potato famine to unlock the genome of the blight behind the disaster.

Scientists examined leaves dating from the Irish potato famine to unlock the genome of the blight behind the disaster.

Marco Thines/Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung

A potato leaf specimen from the Kew Garden herbarium, collected in 1847, during the height of the Irish famine, provided a crucial DNA sample that helped unlock the genome of the blight that caused widespread starvation and wholesale migration in 19th Century Ireland.

A potato leaf specimen from the Kew Garden herbarium, collected in 1847, during the height of the Irish famine, provided a crucial DNA sample that helped unlock the genome of the blight that caused widespread starvation and wholesale migration in 19th Century Ireland. (Marco Thines/Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung)

A potato leaf specimen from the Kew Garden herbarium, collected in 1847, during the height of the Irish famine, provided a crucial DNA sample that helped unlock the genome of the blight that caused widespread starvation and wholesale migration in 19th Century Ireland.